Rescue me from servitude
by Kazuki Landen
Summary: *On hiatus* What would happen if Rei was forced to leave his village and became a servant to Voltaire? Will he escape? Will he even want to? AU.
1. Getting caught

I own only the original characters, not those from any television series, and am not making any profit out of this fic.

Warning – some violence

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The young neko-jin boy crept silently round the street corner. Noticing the two drunkards behind him were catching up, he took a chance and ran out into the open street. It was a good choice- there was an open gateway that would have been hidden to anyone not right opposite it in the street, which just so happened to be where the boy had sped.

He darted through the gateway-

-And came face to face with a young man, dressed in a loose shirt, jodhpurs and tough boots. Obviously one of the houses' stable boys or grooms. Immediately, the man gave a yell. "What're you doing here? We don't like strangers hanging round."

The boy flinched – now he was caught on someone else's premises, the master of the house could do what he or she wanted to do to him. Mutely, he dropped down on one knee, imploring with his eyes not to be beaten, or worse, killed.

"I suppose you haven't done any harm… No! You trespassed, so now you must be punished!" The man's voice grew in volume until it echoed round the corridor, alerting all the other men in the stable that there was an intruder.

The boy stood up, terrified, but still, in the small area of his mind that had not been overwhelmed in fear, he knew he had to run, to hide, to get away from the men who were now glaring at him with such malice.

He spun, ready to run out the gate, but one of the other men had crept round some back way or another and was triumphantly slamming it shut.

The young boy let out a cry - he was trapped, just like he had been when the villagers beat him up and threw him out of the village. He had to escape!

Settling into a fighting stance, the boy prepared to fight his way out and round the man who had locked the gate.

That man threw himself on the boy, catching him off balance and causing his head to hit the wall.

The boy flipped the man off him, then staggered as the pain of his head hitting the wall became too much for him.

He shook his head, clearing his eyes of the dark mist that had been creeping over them, and kicked out with his left foot straight into the first grooms stomach. The man folded over without a sound.

Outraged at this, the rest of the men around the stable yard flew into an attack. Though, as the corridor was quite narrow, only two or three at a time could get to the boy.

However, after several minutes, one of them managed to get in a glancing blow to the boy's head, successfully knocking him out.

The first man produced a halter rope from somewhere, and tied the unconscious boy's wrists together behind his back. None too gently, he hauled the boy to his feet, then bent underneath the un-responding body to flip it over his shoulder in a fireman's lift.

"Geoffrey, I think I know why he came here – he weighs barely anything at all! He must be starving." As the man straightened, the young boy's shirt fell towards his head, revealing a muscled chest. However, those muscles were further shown off by the lack of solid flesh under the boys' skin.

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Geoffrey knocked on the back door of the great house that the stables were attached to, and a young, pretty maid answered. "Geoff!" She flushed – obviously they were lovers. "What's wrong?"

'Geoff' spoke quietly, smiling at her, then turning worriedly to look at the boy over the other mans shoulder.

Lariane (that was what Geoff called her) frowned. "Then we had better take him to see Master Voltaire, hadn't we?"

She welcomed Geoffrey and the other man, carrying the boy, inside the kitchen, which the door led to.

The two grooms took their boots off and left them by the front door. This meant that Geoff ended up carrying the boy. He frowned at the first man – "Actually, Dan, it would probably be best for me to see him on my own. You go; I'll tell you and the boys what happens when I get back.

Dan nodded and left the way he had come, leaving them alone. Lariane smiled gently and slipped her right hand into Geoffrey's free left one.

As they approached Master Voltaire's study, they pulled apart – the master did not approve of love between servants.

Lariane knocked on the great wooden door. A deep voice came from inside the room. "Come in".

The two servants did so, Lariane curtsying and Geoff bowing as well as he was able with the boy over his shoulder.

"Why have you disturbed me?" The voice boomed out from a leather armchair.

"A trespasser, Master. We overpowered him in the stables." Geoff explained.

Voltaire nodded. "Very well. He will enter my service. Tell him such when he awakes. He will join…the cleaners, I think."

"Yes, Master."

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All reviews gratefully received.


	2. Meeting Kai

Warning – some violence

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-------Several days after the previous chapter-------

The boy fell to the floor. This was the fifth room he had cleaned that morning, there was four left to go, and he was already exhausted!

He crawled into a corner – so anyone who came into the room would find it hard to see him before he could start working again.

He pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his forehead in his hands. He almost wished he were still in the village, being beaten to death. Anything but this forced imprisonment!

A small tear drew a track down his dust-smeared cheek and dripped onto the floor. As if this one small drop had opened the floodgates more and more tears fell, and as he brushed one away, three took its place.

Though those tears were silent, he still didn't hear the footsteps that heralded the approach of another boy, slightly older than him, but still young.

"What's wrong?" A concerned voice and a touch on his shoulder awoke him from his misery.

Automatically, he turned to the boy kneeling in front of him and lay his head on the others shoulder. "It's not fair. All I wanted was a place to sleep, but now I am trapped, caught in servitude, no hope of getting back to my village… why did I leave? And why after so many miles of walking, did I have to choose this place to stay? Why could I not have just slept in the street?" His accent was peculiar. Not bad-different, but nice-different. Almost a gentle purring on the vowels.

"Shhh, its alright, don't worry, stop crying," The newcomer rocked the neko-jin boy backwards and forwards until the tears started to subside. He smiled at the other when he pulled away, defiantly wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Who are you? You cannot be one of the other servants, you are too well dressed. You also speak better. You have a good education. Please tell me who you are." Almost a command. The boy being talked to smiled again.

"Very clever. Yes, I have had a good education. My name is Kai. I am the grandson of Voltaire Hiwatari. I live in the part of the house that is separate from this building. I run it. If you were interested. What's your name?"

The boy backed away, following the line of the walls. As he hit the corner of the opposite wall, he jumped upright and then down to his knees again in a bow. "Please, I am sorry, I did not realise who you were, please do not punish me, Master Kai.

Kai frowned fiercely. "Don't call me that! I am no ones master. I have only three servants, and that is so my grandfather does not pester me." He stepped menacingly towards the boy, who flinched and hid his face.

"What's wrong? I won't hit you. Please tell me what your name is." Kai tried to reassure the frightened boy.

"My name is Rei Kon. Master, I have already been beaten for improper manners several times. Although my etiquette learning is different to yours, I am in your country now, and must learn your ways. I am sorry for my rudeness," Here the boy lifted his eyes slightly from the floor to look at Kai's chest, and spoke with the terror of a young child, "But please don't beat me!"

Kai fell to his knees beside the boy, who had begun crying again, still silently. "Stop that." The neko-jin boy obeyed the order almost instantly. "That's better. I shall try and get my Grandfather to let you work at my house. Until then, stay in the shadows as much as possible. What he doesn't see cannot be harmed by him." And with a fleeting grin the boy was gone.

---------Several days later--------

A maid interrupted the neko-jin's sleep with a command- "Get up, now! The master wishes to see you. So move!"

He obeyed the order, too sleepy to do anything else.

-----------Master Voltaire's study-----------

"You wish to see me, Master?" The young boy knelt in front of his 'master', and focused his eyes on the floor.

"Yes. My grandson has requested that you work for him. I have agreed. One of his maids will come for you in one hour's time. You will be ready by then. The clothes you came in will be returned to you. However, you will stay in your servant issue unless he tells you otherwise."

Rei dipped his head. He understood fine.

Suddenly, Voltaire's face contorted with rage. "When I speak to you, you do not nod, you say 'yes master' Do you understand me?"

Before the cowering boy had a chance to answer, Voltaire snatched up a whip that had been laid by his chair, and grabbed the neko-jin boy's hair, just where it flopped down his back in a bound ponytail.

Rei let out an exclamation of pain, but let himself be dragged to a stool and thrown over the seat, not knowing what would happen, as he had only previously been whipped by the servants.

Voltaire raised the whip and brought it down, hard on Rei's back. Rei screamed, a heart-wrenching expression of utter submersion in pain.

"Please…Stop…" Four whips later, the pain was so much that Rei had almost given up hope of being allowed to leave alive.

"Now we start on the lesson. Do you know why I am whipping you?" Voltaire commanded.

"Yes, master…" Rei spoke through his pain, clenching his teeth with a hiss as his back moved with his words. "I need to learn…how to answer…to you…" The pain was almost overwhelming him now, and a dark haze was flickering across his eyes.

"That's right, child. You have to learn!" With each word, Voltaire struck with the whip again and again.

After another minute of torture, Rei's voice cracked into silence. He was still screaming, but silently now, no noise whatsoever. Tears dripped down his face as he realised that resistance was futile, and gave up his cries.

A knock on the door, and someone entered without permission. This was good, as the two males in the room were far too concerned with Rei's whipping.

"Grandfather! I need your attention with some of my accounts." A young man, older than Kai, with stubble on his chin.

Voltaire paused in his beating, and Rei sighed in relief at the respite. "Of course, Alai, I will always be glad to help." Voltaire smiled slightly, with only one word to Rei – "Go."

As soon as Voltaire had left, Rei followed the command. Pulling his rough shirt over his head, he stopped himself from crying out in pain by biting his lip, hard enough to make it bleed. The blood fell to the ground, to mix with the blood from the whip marks.

He shook his head, hard. His vision swam, and he staggered, before making his way, holding onto various objects, out of the door.

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As before, all reviews gratefully received.


	3. Drawing pictures

This is weird. I know. And hardly anyone's reading it. Or reading and reviewing, at least. Oh well.

Some people have asked me why Rei is so wimpy. I don't actually know. I usually write OOC, so just stick it down as that. Or, you could say that as he is in a foreign country, he is a bit wary, and the beatings are making it worse. I think the first explanation was better. Or, just deal with it.

Disclaimer and warning as before.

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-------------About half an hour after the end of the last chapter-----------

Rei swung the small leather bag onto his back, wincing as it just barely missed the whip marks. He had managed to keep that bag with him throughout all that had happened. It contained his pencils for drawing, some paper, and three pictures.

One was of his only relation, a far-distant cousin, Mariah. One was of his friends, when they were only about nine years old. That particular picture had been done instead of his chore for the afternoon, and had been well worth the trouble he got into later.

The third picture… the third picture was of him, his mother, and his father. That had been the hardest picture he had ever drawn – he had to sit in front of a mirrored rock, drawing himself between his parents. It had taken him weeks to finish it. Four weeks after it was finished, his parents died from the dread disease that had swept through the village. It was the only image he had of them – other than those in his memories.

A quiet knock on the gate – a man opened it and pushed Rei through. A young maid smiled at him, then led the way to a house a few doors away.

Rei followed her through to the back of the house, where horses hooves could be heard thudding on soft sand.

With a small smile, she whispered in Rei's ear, "Kneel by the gate until he addresses you. Don't talk unless he tells you to. Keep your eyes on the floor. And for heavens sake don't look directly in his eyes or touch his horse!" She left, giving Rei a gentle push towards the arena.

Rei did as he was told, kneeling in the dirt by the gate until the horse trotted over, a boy dismounted and a command came. "Hello, Rei. Those can't be your own clothes. What do you have in that bag? Show me."

"Yes master. These are not my own clothes. My own clothes are in this bag. Also in there are my drawing pencils, paper and pictures."

"I said, show me!" The voice was even sterner than before. Rei hurried to obey, dropping the clothes over his shoulder and placing the pencils on the floor, then holding the pictures up for Kai to see.

"They are very good." Kai nodded approvingly. Even though the boy was a servant, he still deserved praise for good work. "I have seen nothing as talented as this for a while. However, I wish to see if they are truly your own pictures. Look at me."

Rei raised his eyes to Kai's chest. "Master, I…I cannot. I have been told that you will beat me if I look at your eyes. I do not wish to be beaten, however much I wish to draw."

"Smart. Very smart. However, I give you my express permission to look me in the eyes. You have been told not to look in my eyes. My orders override any advice you may have been given. Look. Now."

Rei raised his eyes to see the other boys'. Kai was glaring at him with fiery crimson eyes, which softened slightly as Rei glared back. "Good. Now, draw me. And the horse."

Slowly, Rei slipped to the floor and stuck the end of the pencil in his mouth. His eyes closed as he began to think.

Kai raised his eyebrows as Rei sat there in silence for a minute or so, then shrugged and re-mounted his horse.

After almost ten minutes of thinking, Rei opened his eyes again. He had his ideas, and knew where to start. Picking up his pencil, he began to draw.

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Half an hour later-

Rei lifted his head and called out, "It's finished. Do… do you want to see it?"

Kai pulled his horse to a halt and slid gracefully off. Gently taking the picture from Rei's outstretched hand, he stared at it. It was a beautiful, black and white picture of his horse jumping over a high fence. He raised his eyebrows, and nodded appreciatively. "Very good. Hold Summer while I put this inside."

He handed the Reins to Rei, who stared up at him then smiled slightly. "Of course, master."

When Kai had gone, Rei stared up at the horse and gently rubbed its neck. "You're a real beautiful horse, Summer." He stretched up to reach the horse's ears and fussed them gently.

Unnoticed, Kai was standing by the fence, watching. "You know how to ride?"

Rei yelped, and leapt away from the horse. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I forgot, Master, I'm sorry –"

"Stop that." Kai gently interrupted Rei, and took Summer's reins back. "I don't mind. The maids only like to keep outsiders on their toes, thinking I'm a monster, because my Grandfather has been known to send in spies to check I'm treating them as he believes servants should be treated. I won't whip you, or beat you, or make you clean the house. You seem like you'd prefer it outside, and I need a stable boy. Stable boys need to be able to ride. Can you ride?"

"Oh… n-no, I can't," Rei stuttered, bewildered at Kai's words.

"Right. Stand up straight." Rei did so, and Kai sized him up through half closed eyelids. "You're too small to ride Summer with a saddle… hang on." He undid a strap on the saddle and pulled it off Summer's back, then dumped it on the fence.

"On three, I'll lift you onto Summer's back. Just grab her mane." Rei nodded, and Kai hooked his hands under Rei's left leg. "One, two, three!"

He pushed Rei upwards, and almost shoved the younger boy off the other side, not realising how light the boy actually was.

With a yelp, Rei grabbed the horse's mane and held on tightly. Kai raised his eyebrows. "Well done. Now, you need to nudge her sides gently, and she'll move forwards. If you feel like you're wobbling, grab her mane. Otherwise only hold the reins."

Rei nodded, and picked up the two leather straps. He squeezed his heels gently and Summer moved forwards. He winced, and shut his eyes.

The older boy's voice calmly reassured him. "Don't worry. You won't fall off. Just keep your hands on her reins. Open your eyes, and pull gently on the reins to steer. You're doing fine."

One of the young maids, looking on from the house windows, smiled. It was nice for the young master to have a friend his age, even if he was a servant.

Maybe this would finally help him recover from his harsh upbringing at the hands of his Grandfather.

After all, it wasn't just servants that Voltaire personally whipped.

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Comments and criticism etc are greatly appreciated.


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